A new role for media, academics, and experts: call it Corrections Canada

By Susan RileyFeb. 11, 2019

This pre-election period in Canada needs several Daniel Dales, news organizations that will assign an individual, or a team, to full-time research of incendiary political claims.

The media, academics, independent experts from all professions, can play a role in a national round of fact-checking—and the work needs to start immediately. From now until the October election, the facts must hit the fan. In the United States, they already have. Last week’s State of the Union address by U.S. President Donald Trump set off a ticker-tape of real-time fact-checking on Twitter, by everyone from The New York Times, to the networks, to intellectual magazines, individuals and, of course, political opponents of Trump’s. Photograph courtesy of Flickr

CHELSEA, QUE.—There has always been distortion and exaggeration in political campaigning—along with personal slurs, simplistic slogans, and misleading advertising. What is different now is the level of shamelessness that attends this dispiriting ritual. Even when blatant errors are pointed out, political leaders are loathe to retreat, or withdraw.

Gerald Butts has removed himself from the daily political grind of strategizing how to keep the Liberals in power. But observers say it's unlikely he will be consigned to watch the campaign unfold from the sidelines.

SNC-Lavalin risks a takeover if it's convicted. But aside from likely outrage in Quebec, Ottawa can find other builders for its infrastructure plans if the company is banned from bidding on federal contracts, experts say

The Quebec company had extensive access to government ministers and top staffers, and was the only organization registered to lobby for allowing deferred prosecution agreements for white collar crimes.